⭐️ Ideate phase
Brainstorming can often feel frenetic and irrational. It can also leave less extroverted folks feeling left out. The Yes, And! brainstorm provides a little structure for guiding brainstorms, and creating space for each team member to contribute and build on others’ ideas.
How to conduct a Yes, And! brainstorm
Write down a game-changing idea on a whiteboard. (“It would be game changing to ____.”) Give team members a couple minutes to write down (on a post-it) one novel approach to accomplishing the “game changer”. Have them briefly share their novel ideas and place them on the board.
Then lead the team through a series of “Yes, And!” brainstorms for each idea. Ask team members to build on the ideas by saying “yes, and” before they contribute. Make sure every team member builds on the idea before moving on to the next one.
If some of the builds spark other ideas, feel free to capture those too. Repeat the process until everyone’s idea has been built upon by everyone else at least once.
Credit
design thinking bootleg by d.school at Stanford University